Hearing aid technology have gone far since its inception more than a century ago. It’s not a simple small microphone which directs sound to a small speaker anymore. Today, hearing aids are digitally functioning, similar to the units on https://seehearnow.org/.
That supposedly provide better hearing experience for users. However, it’s understandable if you doubt its efficiency. After all, how could a small handy device possess such capacity, right? Hence, read on to learn how digital hearing aids actually work.
How Digital Hearing Aids work for People with Hearing Loss
For starters, understand that each people with hearing loss has unique perception to sound. Clear and perfect for one may be bad for another. And second, there’s no hearing aid device that perfectly produce sounds similar to what people with normal hearing can hear. That’s regardless of it being analog or digital type.
However, digital hearing aids produce better sound quality than analog types. That’s because of its advance audio processing feature, instead of merely making the sound louder. Yes, it’s important to make sound louder to make it more understandable for a person with hearing loss. But doing it the wrong way causes different drawbacks. Think of making sounds simply louder for a person with hearing loss to hear, then a blaring firetruck suddenly passes by.
Digital hearing aids have three main components—the microphone, processor and speaker. And these parts are the keys to the sound quality it produce. The microphone captures the sound, then a microchip processes the audio for quality amplification. Afterwards, the processing microchip releases the electronic codes into sound waves, which the speaker delivers to the user’s ear.
The processor is the main difference of a digital hearing aid from older generations of the device. It helps in adjusting low and high sound frequencies accordingly, with the process being automated. An audiologist would program the hearing aid before giving it to a user, so it would perfectly match the severity of hearing loss. The user, however, can decrease or increase the volume manually depending on how they see fit.
That reduces disruptions to the sound the user hears, as well as extreme sound which may cause vertigo, dizziness or even inner ear pain. Digital hearing aids also come with additional features which further improves user experience.
Additional Features of a Digital Hearing Aid
Many models of digital hearing aids offer unique features for better hearing experience. For example, some units have Bluetooth connectivity features. It makes it easier to use on phone calls without suffering from feedback or interfering sounds. Telecoil features are helpful too, since it makes it easier to listen to a television and surround sound speaker among other audio-emitting devices.
On a side note, battery life is also a matter of consideration for many buyers. Some hearing aids come with non-rechargeable batteries, which means you have to buy new packs every now and then. Units with rechargeable batteries are available, however, as well as those which boast longer power life.
Note, however, that more additional features means bigger price. So, only buy a hearing aid which carries the vital features you really need.
These are the basic info you must know on how digital hearing aids work. But before you go and buy one, always find an audiologist facility to help you. They are the right experts who can fit a unit to your ears properly.